y; and so poor Silas, furnished with some old coverings,
turned out with his two companions into the rain again, thinking of the
long night-hours before him, not as those do who long to rest, but as
those who expect to "watch for the morning".

CHAPTER VIII

When Godfrey Cass returned from Mrs. Osgood's party at midnight, he was
not much surprised to learn that Dunsey had not come home. Perhaps he
had not sold Wildfire, and was waiting for another chance--perhaps, on
that foggy afternoon, he had preferred housing himself at the Red Lion
at Batherley for the night, if the run had kept him in that
neighbourhood; for he was not likely to feel much concern about leaving
his brother in suspense. Godfrey's mind was too full of Nancy
Lammeter's looks and behaviour, too full of the exasperation against
himself and his lot, which the sight of her always produced in him, for
him to give much thought to Wildfire, or to the probabilities of
Dunstan's conduct.

The next morning the whole village was excited by the story of the
robbery, and Godfrey, like every one else, was occupied in gathering
and discussing news about it, and in visiting the Stone-pits. The rain
had washed away all possibility of distinguishing foot-marks, but a
close investigation of the spot had disclosed, in the direction
opposite to the village, a tinder-box, with a flint and steel, half
sunk in the mud. It was not Silas's tinder-box, for the only one he
had ever had was still standing on his shelf; and the inference
generally accepted was, that the tinder-box in the ditch was somehow
connected with the robbery. A small minority shook their heads, and
intimated their opinion that it was not a robbery to have much light
thrown on it by tinder-boxes, that Master Marner's tale had a queer
look with it, and that such things had been known as a man's doing
himself a mischief, and then setting the justice to look for the doer.
But when questioned closely as to their grounds for this opinion, and
what Master Marner had to gain by such false pretences, they only shook
their heads as before, and observed that there was no knowing what some
folks counted gain; moreover, that everybody had a right to their own
opinions, grounds or no grounds, and that the weaver, as everybody
knew, was partly crazy. Mr. Macey, though he joined in the defence of
Marner against all suspicions of deceit, also pooh-poohed the
tinder-box; indeed, repudiated it as a rather impious